The University of South Carolina Beaufort baseball team looks to continue its best start in four years when the Sand Sharks open Sun Conference play with a three-game series against visiting Warner on Friday and Saturday at the Richard Gray Sports Complex in Hardeeville. The teams are scheduled to play a single game at 1 p.m. Friday followed by a doubleheader beginning at 11 a.m. Saturday. 

The Sand Sharks are riding a six-game winning streak after sweeping a doubleheader from Middle Georgia on Tuesday, winning 7-5 and 8-1. USCB is off to an 8-1 start, its best since going 11-1 to begin the 2011 campaign. The all-time series is tied 9-9, but USCB holds a 6-2 edge at home. The Royals swept the three-game series last season in Lake Wales, Fla., on the final weekend of the regular season. 
 

LIVE COVERAGE

Streaming video: Stretch Internet 

Live stats: Stretch Internet
 

SCOUTING WARNER

The Royals opened the season by losing two games to rival Webber International but bounced back to split a doubleheader with NCAA Division II Eckerd College on Saturday. Warner is hitting .269 as a team and averaging 3.5 runs per game. The pitching staff has compiled a 5.59 ERA and allowed opponents to hit .309. Junior LHP Jimmy Diven picked up the Royals' only win on the mound and is 1-1 with a 3.86 ERA in 4 2-3 innings. 
 

HEAD-TO-HEAD

ALL-TIME: Tied 9-9
CURRENT STREAK: Warner W4
ALL-TIME AT USCB: USCB leads 6-2
CURRENT STREAK AT USCB: Warner W1

NOTES

• Senior SS Ashly Morris has 110 career hits and needs two to pass Ty Main for seventh in USCB history. Morris has scored 73 career runs and needs six to match Main for eighth on USCB's all-time list. 

• Morris has been hit by a pitch 11 times, eighth-most in USCB history. He is one behind Spencer Jackson and two behind Jeremy Webb. Morris also ranks second all-time at USCB with 18 sacrifice bunts.

• Morris and freshman OF Zack Saldivar have hit safely in eight of USCB's nine games. 

• Through Wednesday, USCB ranked seventh in the NAIA in batting average (.357), 13th in runs per game (8.778) and 14th in hits per game (11.222). Morris is second in hits (19) and seventh in hits per game (2.111).

• Senior RHP Junior Delatorre, the scheduled starter for Game 1, is fourth in USCB history with a 3.13 career ERA, fifth in wins (11) and fourth in strikeouts (123). 

• Junior RHP Jamie Strock, who is projected to start Saturday's first game, has won his first two starts as a Sand Shark, compiling a 1.29 ERA in 14 innings. 

• USCB pitchers have issued only 23 walks in 70 innings while compiling 49 strikeouts. 

• USCB starting pitchers have not allowed more than three earned runs in any game this season. 

• Junior RHP Blake Drew has three saves and needs only two more to match Colton Rudd (2012) and Kyle McCullough (2009) for USCB's single-season record. 

• USCB head coach Bryan Lewallyn is in his fourth season leading the Sand Sharks and has a 95-69 overall record. He needs seven more wins to surpass Rick Sofield as the program's career leader. 

• USCB is 126-53 all-time at home, including an 8-1 mark this season. 

RELATED LINKS

USCB Season Statistics

Sun Conference Baseball Standings

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